Lake County vying for mysterious semiconductor-related facility: ‘High priority project for the state’
Lake County is pursuing a secretive semiconductor fabrication manufacturing development, code-named “Project Bravo,” that would be the first of its kind in the country, with the County Board set to consider $2 million in related economic incentives at a meeting next week.
During Thursday’s Financial & Administrative Committee meeting, Kevin Considine, president and CEO of Lake County Partners, spoke in general terms about the project, but details were scarce — something he attributed to nondisclosure agreements.
“We can’t officially give the name of the company,” Considine said, although he described its work as “strategically significant for Illinois, Chicago and Lake County.”
Preeti Chasani, senior vice president of Illinois Economic Development Corporation, appeared virtually to talk about the development as well. She said Project Bravo is a “U.S. manufacturing facility that will integrate manufacturing, assembling, and testing of components under one roof.”
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“It really creates a domestic supply chain for these components, which currently are not manufactured in the U.S.,” Chasani said.
It is a “high priority project for the state,” she said, with Gov. JB Pritzker reportedly spending “a lot of time” on it. It has also received “a lot of attention” from the federal government, she said, in discussions about the U.S. regaining “leadership in the semiconductor supply chain industry.”
She described it as a “U.S. venture-backed company,” and said the project would create 400 jobs, ranging from engineers to technicians, skilled trades, and operations, with the company “very motivated” to hire locally.
Ronald Lanz, senior director of business development for Lake County Partners, said he couldn’t name a specific municipality being eyed for the development, although he added that it would take up more than 200,000 square feet in an existing, vacant facility.
He said the company will make a capital investment of over $200 million into the existing facility.
Lake County is one of two locations being considered, with the other supposedly having offered “a lot more than we had initially,” Lanz said. While Illinois backing has “filled in the bulk of that hole,” the $2 million in Lake County funds — taken from nearly $12 million in interest income earned from American Rescue Plan Act money — will provide the “last little bit” that is needed.
No one was able to give an exact timeline on when more information will be made available. However, Lanz and Chasani described upcoming decisions as “imminent,” potentially even within days, since the facility needs to be in operation “within months.”
jstates@chicagotribune.com